1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to containers for storing a plurality of medicaments to be used in a therapeutic regimen for a patient, and more particularly, to a container for storing a plurality of medicament containing blister cards to facilitate the prescribed sequence and interval of application of the medicaments.
2. Description of Related Art
The treatment of various medical disorders often involves a complex therapeutic regimen where the patient is required to take certain medications on certain days and at certain times of the day. The patient may be required to take a given medicament only at certain points in the regimen, and other medicaments at other points in the regimen. The resulting complexity of the required therapeutic regimen results in low overall patient compliance. Furthermore, it is generally difficult for the prescribing physician to assess the degree of patient compliance with the prescribed regimen.
Many systems have been developed which utilize blister cards having indicia indicating the particular time when a particular medicament is to be taken. U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,567 to Knudsen discloses a blister card holding two different medicaments. The blister card includes indicia along one axis of the card indicating that a first medicament is to be taken during the day and the second at night. Indicia representing the consecutive days of therapy are imprinted along the other axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,849 to Leonard et al is directed to a calendar-oriented pill dispenser comprising a blister card containing a complete cycle of several different medicaments. Indicia are provided which relate each pill or group of pills with a given day of the month. The blister card is folded in half to reduce its size.
The effectiveness of these blister cards is limited by the practical limitations of the dimensions of the card. Problems arise when a complete cycle of treatment cannot be conveniently placed entirely on one blister card.
Additionally, there are disadvantages where more than one medicament is included on a single blister card. With multiple medicaments in a single card, all of the medicaments are wasted should a dosage change become necessary or the patient become allergic to one of the medicaments contained in the card. On the other hand, if each blister card contains only a single medicament, only the effected card need be returned.
A medicament package including a plurality of blister cards carrying various medicaments is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,238 to Batchelor. A base provides lateral support to the edges of the blister cards, which are placed in a stacked array with the principal dimensions thereof oriented generally horizontally. The blister cards are arranged in order of use with the first to be used topmost. Each blister card generally contains indicia denoting the order and sequence when the contents of a particular blister cavity are to be taken. The base of the package permits direct and unobstructed access to the uppermost blister card and limited access only to the edges of the blister card.
In the package disclosed in the Batchelor patent, only the blister card currently being used, the topmost card, is exposed for removal by the patient. This is disadvantageous when each blister card carries only a single type of medicament, and the patient's regimen requires the daily administration of several different medicaments, because only the topmost card is accessible.